An Embroidered Dolphin

I made a dolphin card today.

I didn't use my Doodle Stitching kit to make this little guy.  I used google images to find a picture of a dolphin and then traced its outline onto some tracing paper.  Fun, huh?

I did use my kit to make the waves under the dolphin, though.

I think I'm going to make a few more ocean themed cards.  This one really got me in the mood for it!

xoxo
Laura

Embroidered Drinks

I may or may not have been feeling a little thirsty when I made my next two cards!

Just like the last two cards I posted about, I used images from my new Doodle Stitching Kit.

I wanted to use the satin stitch to make the red liquid in the martini glass, but I knew that I would end up ripping the card if I made that many holes that close together on the card.  I avoided that problem by outlining the red area with a backstitch, then threading the satin stitch around the backstitched outline instead of through the card itself.

I just used regular old backstitching on the card with the champagne glass.  I wasn't sure how the bubbles would turn out, but I think they ended up looking alright.  I especially like the two little ones inside the champagne, and I sort of wish I had made them all that small.

I need to pick up my stitching pace if I'm going to have enough cards finished by Saturday...  I hope I can do it!  I'm going to get back to work on it right now.

xoxo
Laura

Embroidered Carrots and Cranes

These are the first two cards I made with my Doodle Stitching Kit.

I used a basic backstitch on these little guys.  I found it difficult to make my stitches quite as small as Aimee Ray made hers because the paper would rip if I made my holes too close together.

When I'm finished with this card embroidery project, I definitely want to try embroidering on fabric so I won't have to be so careful about it ripping like paper.  For now, though, I'm very happy with these two cards and I have more ideas brewing for the next two.

Until next time...
xoxo
Laura

Easy Embroidery Tutorial

Back in November I wrote a blog post about about chain stitch embroidery.  Since then I've moved on to (what I consider to be) the simplest embroidery technique ever.  It looks like this:

I used this type of embroidery on my little pink notebook and on the card I made for my friend the other day as well.

To do it, start by poking a series of holes in the paper with an embroidery needle in the shape of whatever you want to embroider.  Then thread the needle and tie a little knot at the end of the thread.

Now it's time to begin embroidering...

Step 1: Bring the needle through the 2nd hole, coming from the bottom up.
Step 2: Plunge the needle down through the 1st hole.
Step 3:  Pull the needle back up through the 3rd hole.
Step 4:  Bring the needle back down through the 2nd hole.

Repeat the process of bringing the needle up through the next empty hole and bringing it back down through the hole before it.

Once you've embroidered through all of the holes, tie a knot on the underside of the work and cut off the excess thread.  This is what the bottom should look like:

The front side of the embroidery should now look like the very first picture in this post; a neat and tidy embroidered line.  Easy, right?

Now that I've covered the basic concept, the less easy and more fun part of this process is thinking up new designs to embroider.  I've already embroidered one more piece that I'm looking forward to sharing on Friday!

xoxo
Laura

Hand Embroidered Thank You Cards with a Free Printable Stencil

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!  There are so many things to be thankful for this time of year, so why not say it with a handmade card?  (I made these because I recently received some birthday presents, but don't forget about the Christmas presents and the plethora of holiday parties on the horizon.) 

To begin, I made a stencil that will fit on a 3.5" by 5" card.  

You can download it as a free printable right here.

Once you've downloaded and printed the stencil, place your card on top of a cork board, cut out the stencil, and tape it on top of the front of the card.  

Use a push pin to poke holes all along the letters on the stencil.  When you've finished that, remove the stencil and you'll be ready to begin the embroidery.

Thread a needle with embroidery thread and use a basic chain stitch to embroider the letters.  Here's how to do a chain stitch:

1. Bring the needle up through the first hole.
2. Bring the needle back down through the same hole, but don't pull it out all the way.
3. With the back of the needle still halfway through the first hole, bring the front of the needle part of the way up through the second hole.  Check the picture to make sure your needle looks like mine.
4. Loop the thread up and around the needle.
5. Now you can pull the needle through the two holes and you will have the first loop on your chain.
6. Repeat the process over and over again to make a chain.  Each time you finish a loop, that loop's second hole becomes the first hole for the next loop.  For example, when you've finished step 5 and you have your first loop, you've just done step 1 for the next loop, so you'll repeat your process by bring the needle back down the hole it just came out of, halfway up through the next one, wrap the thread around the front of the needle, then pull the needle out again and you'll have your second link in the chain stitch. Keep going until you reach the end of a line, then bring the needle out and around the last loop and back down through the last hole to secure the chain.  Once your thread is down under the card, you can move it to the hole where you want to start your next chain and begin again.  Keep going until you've embroidered the whole word.

I hope this tutorial makes sense, because once you get the hang of doing a chain stitch it's easy and makes a big impact.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section below.  

Happy Friday!

xoxo

Laura

A Washi Tape Birthday Card

Hi Guys!

I was in Target the other day and low and behold, it's already time to buy school supplies. Isn't it still July?  Anyway, as I was walking by, I realized that they were selling 4-packs of Target brand washi tape for $4 and I couldn't resist it.  I decided to use it to make my grandmother this birthday card:

The Supplies I used are:

1. Blank notecard
2. Construction paper
3. Washi tape
4. Embroidery floss
5. Push pin
6. Scissors
7. Tape
8. Glue
9. Black sharpie
10. Toothpicks

Here's how to make the flags:

1. Cut out one little flag shape from white construction paper.


2. Use the first flag as a stencil to draw 5 more flags that match the first one and cut them out.


3. Cover each little flag with washi tape by placing the flag on the sticky side of the tape and cutting around it.


4. Use a push pin to make 2 little holes in the top corners of a flag.


5. Thread embroidery floss through the little holes.


6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 with all the other flags so they are all strung together on a line.


7. Tape the ends of the embroidery floss to the back and inside of the card.


8. Place a loop of tape on the back of each flag to stick it down on the card.

Once you've made the flags, it's time for all the finishing touches:

1.  Stick a long strip of washi tape onto the white construction paper and write the card's message on it.  (I had my awesome big sister do this part for me because her handwriting is significantly better than mine.)  If you have stamp letters, I think it would also look really great to stamp your message instead of writing it.

2.  Cut out the message in the shape of a long flag.

3.  Glue the long flag message(s) to the upper right hand side of the card.

4.  Cut off the pointy ends of 2 toothpicks, then glue them together on the edge of the card so they look like a flag pole.

5.  Cover the whole back of the card with washi tape so that you cover up the place where you taped the end of the embroidery floss to the back of the card.

6.  Also cover the upper inside part of the card for the same reason that you covered the back.

Now you should have a fun, handmade card to write in and mail!
Happy taping!
xoxo
Laura